Scott Wykoff's Blog

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Let The Road Begin

Maryland's first fully electronic toll road is open for business. Well, sort of.

The first segment of Maryland Route 200 is now open. You know, the Innercounty Connector. That's right, the ICC.

Here, take a ride for yourself on Maryland's newest road.

A 7 mile stretch of the nearly 19 mile $2.6 billion is now carrying traffic. It's free until March 7th. Then those electronic toll scanning devices will start charging drivers as much as $9 a trip during the height of rush hour.

It's the road connecting 95 in Prince Georges County with 270 in Montgomery County. A road that has been some 6 decades.

For some this is a day that has long been awaited. For others it's a day that they hoped would never become a reality. Supporters of the toll road say it will help reduce congestion and make it easier to get across Montgomery County. Opponents of the road argue its environmental impact will be devastating and the new road is simply another "cash grab" for the state.

No matter which side folks come down on, supporters of opponents, there's one thing for sure. The road is now a reality and here to stay.

Its opening delayed a day due to a late February snow storm, a steady flow of drivers hit the ICC pavement for the first time on a clear and cold day.

Even though those high tech overhead electronic toll devices weren't operating on the ICC's opening day, that doesn't mean the trip on the new road was free for everyone on Day 1. There were marked MDTA police cars running radar. There was also at least one unmarked black pick-up truck running radar too.

The second segment between Route 97 Georgia Avenue and I-95 in Laurel is expected to open late this year or early next year.

Check out the ICC bench mark that I found at the Muncaster Mill Rd overpass.

Just for your information, the ICC timeline dates back to the late 60s when planners dropped the idea of building an Outer Beltway in Montgomery County and instead the idea of an east-west state highway between Laurel and Gaithersburg was born.

While there were plenty of planning studies during the 70s, 80s and 90s, Governor Ehrlich called the ICC his top transportation priority when he took office in 2002.

The former Governor and his Transportation Secretary Robert Flanagan were both on-hand when Governor O'Malley hosted the ICC's ceremonial ribbon cutting. A day later I saw Mr. Flanagan out and about running some errands in Olney.

I wonder if he tested out the ICC on its opening day? If he did, I hope he saw that unmarked pick-up truck along the shoulder.